Vol. 71/No. 47      December 17, 2007

Simms was born in Montreal and grew up in New Brunswick before moving to Ottawa. In Ottawa he became involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement and joined the Young Socialists in 1969. Within months, he moved to Vancouver to help build the communist movement there.

Simms played an active part in the 1977 fusion of four organizations to form the Revolutionary Workers League, the predecessor of the Communist League.

From the early 1980s to the early 1990s he was part of building the Communist League in Quebec, where its cadres were deeply involved in struggles for the rights of the Quebecois. He served on the Political Committee at that time. He also was a staff writer for Socialist Voice and for Lutte ouvrière, the publications of the Revolutionary Workers League, and then worked full-time on the promotion of Pathfinder books.

Simms often drove the length of Canada visiting bookstores and libraries, despite the fact that a major car accident at age 19 had left him confined to a wheelchair for life.

He was a tireless educator who helped lead many class series on Marxism. In 2004 he helped present a class during the Socialist Workers Party convention on “Jew Hatred, Trotsky-Baiting, and ‘Conspiracies.’” He also took on major responsibilities both nationally and locally as the financial director of the Communist League.

For the past 15 years Simms lived in Toronto. He continued to lead the efforts to distribute Pathfinder books. This fall he was an active participant in the sales of several hundred of these books at activities such as the Quebec Social Forum; “Word on the Street,” a popular book fair in Toronto; the Salon du livre de Montréal; and the Middle East Studies Association conference.

Two days before his death he was one of several hundred participants in a public meeting of the communist movement in New York City. Simms was a consistent contributor to the Militant. An article he coauthored dealing with a government-inspired campaign targeting Muslims in Quebec appeared in last week’s issue.

A meeting to celebrate Simms’s life and political contributions will be held on January 19 in Toronto. For more information on this event and to send messages, contact the Communist League, 2238 Dundas St. W., Suite 201, Toronto M6R 3A9. Phone: (416)535-9140; e-mail: cltoronto@bellnet.ca.  
 
 
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